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Monday, August 1, 2011

King/Newton - Quiet Fued

Peter King may have been mad as he'll be all year, during his trainingcamp visit.

It was a good time to visit - in the wake of bigtime signings and theCBA, of which owner Jerry Richardson had a major part, and early in thecamp process for an energetic young team. Before the pads come on, andwhile the young skill players can still run around in shorts (what theydo best at this point). Before technique matters, before a guy largerthan you is bearing his weight on your shoulders.

But King's goal was a snippet from Cam Newton, by all means the ongoingbiggest story in camp. Newton is a lightning rod, and always will be.He's had a very good offseason, by all means, working hard and sayingthe right things, but as King found out, Newton isn't always talking.

John Ellis, of the212radio, was within arm's reach of Newton snubbingKing. King was livid - he's a name national reporter in a sea ofcontent, one of the few old-guard print guys to have fully grasped newmedia to continue his place in the conversation. Newton, rumored to beunhappy about a pre-draft exchange where he'd said the now-famous"entertainer and icon" line, walked by without saying a word.

"I was walking with Charlie Dayton to the parking lot after practice, and here comes Peter King, pissing and moaning about Cam", Ellis said. "He told Charlie that he came down here to get an exclusive and now he was being blown off."

I'm not always a fan of King's, but reading his MMQB column today Inotice that it could've been a fine pulpit for him to decry an immatureNewton and cause waves for a guy who has had character issues in thepast. He declined to do so, and spoke highly of the team and campenvironment in general. He praised Greg Olsen, working with a Juggsmachine. He praised the way things were run there, and talked about theaura a personality like Newton brings, and how long he signedautographs. Nothing about the snub.

That's professionality, and hopefully Newton notices and learns, ratherthan feeling like he got away with one. Now's the time to build arelationship, clear the air on something that caused neither any harm,rather than drag on a grudge.

Newton's actions aren't the type that I worried about pre-draft (orpost-draft). The last thing I honestly expected of him would be to passup media. Is it that big a deal? Honestly, no. But, being a #1overall means being a face of the franchise. It means building goodwill, not squandering it.